I wanted to do a quick thread on how I restored my 8" differential. I see a lot of cars that claim to have a restored 3rd member, while all someone has done is give it a quick spray with Rustoleum red oxide, and voila. I restored mine using rattle cans, but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out and it's a project that anyone can do and really upgrade the quality of your car's rear end.
I began by getting my existing diff cleaned and degreased. That was a major job in itself. I took good photographs of what markings I found, including measurements. If you have any rust on the machined areas, now is the time to sand that off. After you've got it clean and ready to paint, then the masking starts.
I used Rustoleum satin Heritage Red to paint the body of the pumpkin. This color seems to match the original red oxide pretty closely in both shade and sheen. I've seen many of them painted with spray can red primer, which is too brown and flat (IMO). You can see what the original color of red oxide is when you look at the backside of the pumpkin, which has been sealed inside the rear end housing.
After the body is painted, I moved to the machined area of the carrier. For this area, I used Rustoleum Professional Stainless Steel. It provides a fairly realistic look of machined iron. You've got to be sure to note that this flat machined area turns upward, and that lip should also be natural. The tooling marks make the machined areas obvious. The bolts are phosphate/oil, and after being caked in leaking rear lube for years, mine just needed a good cleaning.
Next, I refinished the yoke and collar. I used Duplicolor Cast Iron engine enamel for the yoke. For the collar, I used Krylon matte Metallic Aluminum.
The detail that I see most people overlook are the machined areas. I used the Rustoleum Stainless Steel for the machined areas on the lower section of the pumpkin and the machined holes (I'm assuming for balancing) on the yoke. This is the detail that, I think, sets the restoration apart.
The last step is to replace any markings that were found upon cleaning and disassembly.
One last detailing point is with regard to the gasket. The readily available Felpro gasket is bigger than the footprint of the pumpkin. I placed mine on the pumpkin, traced the outline of the pumpkin, and then trimmed it to the same shape. I then colored the outside edge with a black sharpie to replicate the color of the original black Ford gasket.
While I'm in no way comparing this restoration to the work of others, who take the time to totally dismantle the pumpkin, correctly epoxy paint and re-machine surfaces, and re-plate the appropriate pieces, I do think that this type of work is well within the realm of almost anyone who wants to spend a little time and effort to upgrade the detail level of their car.
